Sheriff Michael Hennessey won’t run for re-election

Sheriff Michael Hennessey announced today that he will retire at the end of his term after 31 years on the job.

Sheriff Michael Hennessey won’t seek a ninth term. His term expires in January.

”Before matters become a public debate,” he said in a memo to his staff, ”I would like employees of the Sheriff’s Department to know that I do not intend to seek re-election in November of this year.”

Hennessey’s announcement will open up a citywide elective office. Among those rumored as potential candidates are Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and Vicki Hennessy, the former director of San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management and a former chief deputy in the sheriff’s department.

Hennessey, who has proven to be popular with the city’s electorate, has been elected eight times and is the longest-serving member on San Francisco’s roster of elected officials.

He recently was a contender for the job of interim mayor. But in the end, the Board of Supervisors selected City Administrator Ed Lee to fill out the year remaining on Gavin Newsom’s term when he left the mayor’s office to become lieutenant governor.

The cowboy boot-wearing sheriff oversees a staff of nearly 1,000 and runs San Francisco’s jails, which has an average daily population topping 2,000. His staff also provides security in the county courts and at City Hall.

A lawyer by training, Hennessey directed a legal services program for inmates before he was elected sheriff.

During his tenure, he has focused on rehabilitating offenders, offering in-custody education, substance abuse and anti-violence services, earning ”the respect of others in law enforcement and the San Franciscans we serve,” he said in his memo to staff.